12 real life days of Christmas

The good, bad and ugly:

12: the number of times I changed my mind about what to get people for Christmas (at least)

11: the number of times I have promised myself to write letters to our compassion kids this month…also the number of times I’ve not kept that promise and felt horrible.

10: the number of days since Drew started his first seminary class online

9: the number of things that should have been done last week that are still on my to do list.

8: the ever-shrinking number of days I have left to frantically finish a major project and set it up. Also the number of days I have left to finish tracing a giant map of Cape Town on a king sized bed sheet with silver sharpie. Let’s go ahead and put that one down under “ideas I wish I’d never had”

7: the number of nights I have felt lonely and left out because Drew has been holed up in the office working on his seminary class while juggling all our other commitments. Also the approximate number of back to back frustrated texts I sent my best friend about this issue. Good thing she is awesome.

6: the number of textbooks Drew had to buy for just that one class

5: the number of minutes I happily wasted today just sitting in my car in a shopping center parking lot, sipping coffee and waiting for Dominick the Donkey to come on the radio because the DJ promised he would play it…doesn’t feel like Christmas without Dominick.

4: the number of months I needlessly paid for a town bus pass until last week when I discovered that as a VT employee I could get a Hokie passport and ride it for free.

3: the number of minutes I stood at the wrong credit card machine in the dollar store while the person behind the counter rang up my items and stared at me, probably wondering why I was trying to swipe my card at the next register. Also the number of Nyquil shots I took last night.

2: the number of white sedans I approached this morning before figuring where I parked my camry. Two is also the number of white sedans I have actually managed to get all the way into over the years before realizing I had the wrong car. To all you other white sedan owners out there who only occasionally lock your doors, I raise my glass. You are my kind of people.

1: chalkboard Christmas tree.

0: the number of actual meals I managed to cook this month.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone.

Paranoia

I’d like to think that I’m pretty laid back person, but I have to admit that sometimes I look at that little iSight camera at the top of my mac and I start to get really jittery. I mean, it’s just always there. Pointed at me. Then I feel that weird crawling sensation you get when someone is watching you…How did they hack the feed?! And why?? Is it some creepy dude who lives in an unfinished basement? No, it’s mostly likely more than one person. There are probably two or three of them on there other side laughing at me. I bet this is not a flattering angle. My mouth is closed right? What’s in the background right now? Can they see my house? Do the know where I live?! Thank God I’m not in the bathroom!! I bet it’s the government. I bet they just hack in and out of peoples laptops whenever they want! I bet they are always there. Studying us…at this point I’m so freaked that I have to slam the computer shut and go put some clothes on before I can even think about continuing whatever it was I was doing.

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Time to resurrect the blog!

…possibly. Without going into too much detail, I just wanted to let you know that Drew and I will be leaving for South Africa on Thursday. We are traveling with a team from our church and we will be updating a team blog (www.thecapetownprojects.wordpress.com) while we are there, but I may continue to use this blog for my own updates/thoughts. I will be going in a slightly different capacity this time around as I will be doing some documentary work for the missionaries we are going to visit.

This morning I got the opportunity to have breakfast with a BCF missionary who works in a closed country. She told me that on days when people were praying for her she could feel it and it made a difference. Please pray for her and for all those who are being “sent” this summer.

In other news, the family is spread out all over the place right now. Here is a newsletter from my brother who is on summer project with Cru in San Diego:

Hello again,
For everybody who joked about paying for my vacation to San Diego this summer, I can assure you that it has been far from it. Job hunting is much harder that actually having a job itself. Then pile all of outreach and project meetings on top of that and that equals a completely packed week. I live 30 seconds from the beach and I have only been in the water twice. I am starting to understand why in so many of his Psalms, David asks God to restore him or renew him. This has been quite a draining experience. We are really blessed on this project to have some incredible men on staff. They don’t let us slack off (usually to my displeasure at the moment). We are constantly being challenged to grow and take steps of faith. Sometimes it kinda feels like boot camp for the men on the project. This has pretty obviously had an effect on us guys as there is no shortage of encouragement and there definitely hasn’t been a shortage of calling each other out.
Man, something that God has been pulling on my heart like crazy since I have been out here is being able to love the homeless. I had previously taught myself to ignore them and definitely not give them any money (I learned my lesson in South Africa when I got conned BIG time) because you never know if they are just going to turn right around and by booze or drugs with it. It is literally impossible to get on a bus or trolley here without running into a crazy person talking to themselves or trying to bum money off of me. When I first got here I did my usual thing and just ignored them. Slowly but surely God began to soften my heart toward them. That didn’t stop me from politely just passing by. I finally broke down when I passed a guy sitting outside of a 7-eleven. He was in his twenties and he was holding a sign that said “BROKE AND HORNY”. As soon as I saw him, Satan just started feeding me lies. “You don’t want to talk to him, he is going to try to assault you”, “He is a drug addict, you can’t associate with him”, “He screwed his life up, he doesn’t deserve God’s love”, “There is so many people just like him. It wouldn’t make a difference even if you did try to help him”. I was doing my best to just walk by him but he asked me if I could help him out. I brushed him off with the usual “sorry bro, I got nothing”, but when I made eye contact with him for just a brief second, I saw so much pain. But I was so caught up in the devil’s lies that I just kept walking. I immediately flashed back to the passage in Matthew 25 where it talks about caring for those in need.

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

Right then and there I promised God that I would not miss the next opportunity (dangerous thing to do). So that night when we went out sharing on the beach I was telling my friend David about what had happened. We started walking and praying that God would provide us opportunities with the “least of these”. We said amen and took about 20 steps when some homeless guy walked up to us and asked if we wanted to buy some drugs. The thoughts started to creep in. “Say no and get away from this dude as fast as you can”. But for some reason, before I could stop myself, I said “Na dude, but do you have a minute to talk?”. Sure enough we got to share the gospel with him and he had a bunch of questions on the characteristics of God that we got to explain to him. He wasn’t ready to accept Christ then but we gave him our contact info and we could tell he walked away from our conversation blessed by the Holy Spirit. So please keep him in your prayers, his name is RE.
Further on down the boardwalk we ran into a man begging for money. We stopped to do “perspective cards” with him (which is basically a way of getting into spiritual conversations with people). As we were talking with him, another homeless girl came up and started verbally attacking us and saying that we were full of bull… you know what. Anyways, we were able to calm her down and eventually they both shared their life stories with us. It turns out that they are both practicing wiccans (witchcraft). We ended up hanging out with them for about an hour and a half got to share the gospel with them many times during our conversation. They were actually very interesting people and a lot of fun to talk to. They were literally living off of one meal that was provided by a shelter every 3 or 4 days. They said that all of the druggies give them a bad rep because people assume that they are going to go by drugs so nobody helps them out. The girl was out begging the entire day and came back with less than a dollar in change (turns out, that is why she was so fired up when she first came up to us). So we each gave them a couple of bucks to go get something to eat. Now, I know that is kinda a gray area but we are still in contact with them and I choose to trust God and give them the benefit of the doubt that they weren’t going to go buy drugs.  Anyways, we also invited them to an event that we put on every Friday night called FNL, it is basically a like a Cru weekly meeting, and the girl actually showed up! And she said that she loved it! So please keep them in your prayers.
Ok, I am going to stop telling stories but I want to ask you guys to be praying for some things.

• I have a praise really quick. I have all of my support fully raised! Thank you so much for supporting me financially. But unfortunately I still don’t have a job and I am pretty sure that I won’t be able to get one this summer. So any money that I raise over the project fee goes to reimbursing me for food this summer. I am currently surviving of a dwindling checking account. If you still feel led to give, it will go to a great cause-me being able to buy groceries! You can write a check and send it to me at- 824 Santa Clara Place Unit 2, San Diego, CA 92109. Or you can give online at https://give.ccci.org/give/View/5610300?pp=Search+Results
• RE, the guy who tried to sell us drugs. That God would put someone in his life that would be able to water the seed that we planted.
• HQ (her real name is Niki but she goes by her street name), the wiccan girl. She is 18 and homeless. That a girl on project would step up and befriend her because there is only so much that me and David can do as guys. So please be praying hard for a girl to step up because it will probably be hard for them to befriend a homeless 18 year old girl.
• Ian, the wiccan guy. He looked like he was in his mid 30s. That he will come to know Christ. He seemed pretty set in his ways.
• Toma. A guy that I talk to for a long time on campus who is a Satanist but we had a great conversation. I think I am going to be able to meet with him again tomorrow.
• That we will find a good church to attend while being out here. We went to one today and it was one of the worst experiences of my life. The preacher glorified himself and his church instead of God and he twisted scripture. It has made me realize what a blessing BCF is. I am so thankful for a home church that is rooting the true Word of God.
• That I would keep a good attitude because we have A LOT of meetings and it is frustrating sometimes.

Thank you so much for the prayers! It is a blessing to know that I am covered in prayer back home.
Mark

Life

Life with a bearded family

and a Catahoula

is interesting.

Uh oh…

It looks like an Oreo mated with a Rottweiler.

And developed Kennel Cough.

And moved into our home.

Awwww.

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Lackluster

I’m not always the most organized and detail oriented person, but these past couple weeks I seem to be more unbalanced than usual.

For example: I am wearing my engagement ring today. I found it on the floor this morning. Where’s my wedding band? Who knows? I don’t remember taking either of them off my finger.

This morning, two days after their mysterious disappearance, my husband found my keys on top of the mantle; completely out of sight and almost out of my reach. How? Why? When?

Moving on.

I hit one of our cars (with another one of our cars) backing out of the driveway the other morning. Red on white paint. Oops. And I don’t mean “Oops…I forgot that was back there.” I mean “Oops..I was 99% sure I was going to hit it and gambled on the 1%”  That kind of oops.

And so it continues. Not big things, just little things.

Ideas, but no motivation. Things that need doing, but I don’t do them.  Holiday cheer? Nope. I’m usually inspired this time of year. All the lights and bustle and whatnot. But this go-round I’m straight up out of umph. Blah, really. Lackluster. Not joyful or depressed. Just ho-hum.

Maybe I’m tired. Maybe I’m too spread out. Maybe I know of too many people whose troubles will not be miles away on this merry little Christmas.

And then I was sitting in our 9am communion service on Sunday watching the huge flakes of snow falling down. I opened my Bible and there in front of me was Isaiah 55.

“Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

“For you shall go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall break forth into singing,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a name for the LORD,
an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

And then the Spirit in me responded when I wouldn’t.

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

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And that, kids, is why you should read your Bibles everyday. The end.

Christmas Tunes

Joy to the World The Blind Boys of Alabama with Aaron Neville :: Hark! the Herald Angels Sing Neil Diamond :: Go Tell it on the Mountain Needtobreathe :: Baby it’s Cold Outside Leon Redbone & Zooey Deschanel :: Put the Lights on the Tree Sufjan Stevens :: O Holy Night Josh Groban :: You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch Thurl Ravenscroft :: Silent Night The Temptations :: Auld Lang Syne Dougie MacLean

Book Thoughts

There is some literature from my childhood that I will always remember fondly…and probably never outgrow. They are books that I loved as a kid and now appreciate, in a completely different way, as an adult. They morph. Or rather, the have the built in ability to survive “the morph” from See Spot Run to…well whatever it is adults read now.

Maybe I wouldn’t know.

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“Instead of arming themselves with ropes and spurs, as usual, they had brought hammers and saws and pry bars. They had even brought a device that I had thought was against the law on our outfit: a tape measure….

And away they went, hacking and sawing and pounding. Would you care to listen in on one of their high-tech conversations? Okay, they had just sawed two boards and were putting them in place.

Loper: ‘Do they fit?’

Slim: ‘Nope.’

Loper: ‘Are they close?’

Slim: ‘Nope.’

Loper: ‘Do they touch?’

Slim: ‘Yep, barely.’

Loper: ‘Nail ‘em. We ain’t building pianos.‘

~Hank the Cowdog Series

Feet Shoes

This weekend Drew gave me a present:

Vibram Bikilas!

Yes, I know some of you are disowning me right now.

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The shoes are great, but I would like to take a moment to talk about the giver.

My husband is great for so many reasons. He…

Ok, you know what? I decided earlier in the day to write this post and share some insights from our marriage and all the ways Drew helps me become a better person, but it’s hours later now; I am sitting on the couch typing this and he is sitting beside me acting like a moronic 8-year-old…it’s like Stuart from Mad TV. So as you can imagine, all those deep insights from this morning currently escape me.

So I’ll just say this: I believe that marriage is between a man and woman; a partnership of equals, each with distinct and unique responsibilities. When I have something to say, some opinion about something that I think is important, I say it. And I expect it to be heard. What I love about Drew is that he makes our relationship a place where I can be sure that it will be. We know we wont always agree on everything, and we don’t expect to. That would be stupid. I am glad for all the times we do agree; but even if we don’t, I know that here I am free to speak my mind. And more importantly, here my opinion is valued.

The rest is in God’s hands.

So thanks, Drew, for all the ways you make me feel loved and important. That takes practice and hard work. It takes discipline to understand your spouse. You are the best friend to me in every way.

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